Faedo Shines As No. 1 Florida Completes Sweep of Harvard, 3-1

Saturday, March 12

Gainesville, FL

7:40 PM

Florida Gators

17-1

Harvard

2-5

Harvard

Florida

Alex Faedo delivered career highs in innings pitched (8.1) and strikeouts (13) for the Gators tonight.

Faedo Shines As No. 1 Florida Completes Sweep of Harvard, 3-1

Saturday, March 12, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

The Gators boosted their winning streak to 11 games with the doubleheader sweep today.

By: John Hines

Video Links/Postgame Interviews
Highlights from Game 2
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
Player Interviews (Alonso, Faedo, Maldonado)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore right-hander Alex Faedo yielded two hits and registered a career-high 13 strikeouts as No. 1 Florida beat Harvard, 3-1, on Saturday night at McKethan Stadium. In claiming their 11th straight game, the Gators (17-1) used a two-run double by freshman Nelson Maldonado to break a scoreless tie in the seventh and take both ends of the doubleheader. UF had notched a 9-2 victory earlier in the day.

Faedo (4-0) retired the first 19 batters of the game before yielding a one-out single in the seventh to junior Josh Ellis. After Ellis stole second, the Gators turned an inning-ending double play on a sprawling grab in center field by sophomore Nick Horvath and a throw to second base to freshman Deacon Liput.

In the bottom of the inning, Maldonado came through with a two-run double into the gap in right center to open the scoring. Junior Peter Alonso (3-for-4) led off with a base-hit into right field against junior Nick Gruener (1-1) and sophomore Jeremy Vasquez followed with a bloop single into center field. Sophomore Mike Rivera moved his teammates over with a sacrifice bunt, and Maldonado roped a 1-1 pitch for his first career two-bagger to break the ice. Sophomore Christian Hicks delivered a double into left field that advanced Maldonado, and Maldonado came home on a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Horvath.

Faedo set down the first Crimson hitter of the ninth before surrendering a double into left field by freshman Trent Bryan. Junior Kirby Snead was summoned from the bullpen after Faedo's career-long 8.1-inning stint and had senior pinch hitter DJ Link ground out, pushing Bryan to third base. Bryan put Harvard on the scoreboard by scoring on an error and Snead completed the contest by having Ellis fly out to right field to collect his first save of the campaign.

Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan
Opening Statement:
"We saw two legitimate SEC starters (Harvard's Sean Poppen and Nick Gruener) today. Both guys were running the ball up there to 94, they both had good sliders, they were able to throw them for strikes in fastball counts and they were both very, very competitive. The energy level we had all day was awesome. The swings this weekend were really good. I'm really pleased with the adjustments we were able to make. It's starting to come together for us. Defensively, what can you say? Alex was lights out -- 13 strikeouts and no walks. I know he wanted to finish the game, but it's a long season though. The effort level was awesome all day. It was a long day, but we were into it. The fans were into it. It was a great day by the fans. We had unbelievable support today. So many people stayed for both games. It was uplifting, and it was a really, really neat day."

On freshman outfielder Nelson Maldonado, who collected five RBI today on a three-run homer and a two-run double:
"The thing I love about Nelly is he's very competitive. He plays hard. He's got one gear, and that's to go full speed all the time. We had the luxury of seeing these guys in the fall and early spring. He's always hit since he's been here, he's always hit in high school and he's always hit off our pitchers. He did not get off to the start that he thought he would have or the coaches thought he would have. I think we made a conscious decision going into the weekend -- let's give him a chance here, let's stay with him and let's see if he can string together some quality at-bats. He did. I'm pumped for him. He lends a lot of energy to our team."

Freshman left fielder Nelson Maldonado
On his at bats…
"Starting off with the first game, the home run really lightened up the mood for me. It was a confidence booster. It was another great game offensively, that puts a smile on our face and it gets us going."

On breaking the tie in the second game:
"I just had to put the ball in play, and that is exactly what I was trying to do. I had to get the ball in the air or at least deep enough to put a man on third. I got lucky with the gap and got a double out of it."

Peter Alonso
On the Gators' performance during the series:
"We want to get everything going. We have been playing good defense, so to get the offense going is really good for us in order to get all the parts clicking going into conference play. We are starting to come together and get everything on the same page."

Postgame Notes

Florida improved to 6-0 all-time versus Harvard and raised its winning streak to 11 games.
Alex Faedo was perfect until a one-out single in the seventh inning by Harvard's Josh Ellis; he retired 19 straight batters to start the game, striking out 11 over that span.
Faedo set career highs in innings pitched (8.1) and strikeouts (13); he did not issue any walks.
Faedo reached double-figures in strikeouts for the second time in his career (12 against Miami on Feb. 28).
With a single in the first, Deacon Liput has reached base in every game this season.
Peter Alonso hit his team-leading eighth double.
Nelson Maldonado had his first career double, driving in two runs; he had five RBI on the day.
Kirby Snead earned his first save of the season, fourth of his career.
Alonso was 8-for-10 with 5 RBI on the weekend.

Up Next
The Gators host No. 15 Florida State in the first of the teams' three meetings this season as part of the Sunshine Showdown on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at McKethan Stadium. Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell have the call on the Gator IMG Sports Network and the game will be shown live on the SEC Network with Chris Burke, Tom Hart, Kyle Peterson and Laura Rutledge.

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